New, with a skew...

[Jelly]

Hi all,
I've had access to a lathe for a while now, and kept meaning to do something on it just to get confident turning spindles for furniture...

Anyway I decided that as so much fuss is made about skews being evil, I should learn with one of those and have done with it.

The two issues I'm facing are:

1) There is a lot of vibration, especially when roughing out, but more generally as well even following advice not to push the tool into the piece as this will cause vibration.

2) The lathe toolrest won't safely come up to the centreline, let alone above it (as per most advice on using skews to work at or above the centre line...) Is there alternative advice for using the skew from a lower position, or could this be a cause of my excessive vibration.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Get another rest. You can't even use a scraper let alone a skew if your rest won't go above centre. You wouldn't usually use a skew for roughing - although I have done, just for the practice.

 

[SVB]

Get another rest. You can't even use a scraper let alone a skew if your rest won't go above centre. You wouldn't usually use a skew for roughing - although I have done, just for the practice.

As above really. The traditional way of using a skew is with the rest roughly level with the top third of the piece.

Do you have a photo of your set-up as it is unusual for this not to be possible?

BRgds

Simon

 

[Jelly]

The lathe is a Record Power DML36, the toolrest only has about 3" of post, I think I'd been sawn off to allow it to sit lower (It's been bolted onto a cabinet, which would foul the rest if set low down), looks like I'll have to buy a new one with the requisite height).

I'd have liked a roughing gouge today, but the only tools which stay with the lathe (rather than belonging to individual workshop users) are a 1" skew, ½" skew and a ¾" bowl gouge. However using the skew with the cutting edge parallel to the axis of rotation, like a plane blade (relative to the motion of the piece) and slowly raising the handle into the cut gave good results, the online "tutelage" I saught prior to starting suggested that this was controllable if done slowly and in small steps working in from the edge, but would almost certainly cause a catch if done in the centre of a piece or to the full width of the tool.

I'm quite excited to do more turning, but probably would benefit from finding a club or experienced turner.

 

[Castanea]

I don't think I've ever used a tool below the centre line. The more I turn the more I realise that tool rest height is critical and find myself making ever smaller adjustments. Everything becomes so much easier once your tool rest height is right. Once your tool rest hight is right AND your tool is sharp you really can do pretty much anything
As for roughing with a skew - that is always going to cause a bit of vibration. Also it can depend on the skew. The oval skews are a bit less rigid than the square ones and will vibrate more.
The other thing which can limit vibration is making sure the tool rest is close to the work. Makes all the difference.
I have a record DML too and when the tool rest is as low as it goes in the banjo with the banjo on the bars it is only just below centre height. The only time I have issues with getting the standard tool test high enough is if I'm turning a spindle above about about four inches in diameter. I'm puzzled about why your tool rest is below centre height - some photos might help people to see what's going wrong.

 

[Jelly]

I'll get photos next time I'm in, but I've figured out the issue by looking at pictures of the stock DML... The two toolrests with the lathe are both salvaged from other lathes, and aren't as tall as the stock record power toolrest.

 

[woodpig]

There's a good video on YouTube called "Screw the Skew", well worth a look.

 

[Jelly]

So I've had a chance to do more turning today whilst waiting for a glue-up.

I've got the hang of roughing out with a skew and turning beads, but right until the end of the session getting clean smooth planing cuts was eluding me... But I realised that when turning the left to right cuts on my beads (which I did left handed), I had to concentrate much more and moved more gently as a consequence.

I tried doing the planing cuts left handed and they worked, and the whole thing was transferable to my right hand then.

I also switched from using offcuts of knotty whitewood to some offcuts of quarter sawn oak and beech (too small for me to use for any joinery, but big enough to practice on), the difference in workability is huge, as the whitewood tends to let the drive centre cut through the endgrain as a path of least resistance whenever you hit a hard knotty bit.

Really must get a roughing gouge, I'm rapidly loosing patience with having to re-sharpenable the skew after roughing out to get a clean cut.

 

[SVB]

Really must get a roughing gouge, I'm rapidly loosing patience with having to re-sharpenable the skew after roughing out to get a clean cut.

Or..... A reasonable size bowl gouge ground with swept back wings does just as well, can't remember last time I used my roughing gouge now and will be a good deal more versatile (but alas probably more expensive also!).


Simon

 

[Phil Pascoe]

An old, large, carbon steel continental pattern gouge can be bought for next to nothing as few people use them. They work perfectly well. There's a good reason why roughing gouges are made though - they are very good for roughing.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Personally, I wouldn't avoid the very useful roughing gouge as a member of your arsenal. The standard instrument is a 3/4" roughing gouge and its an immensely useful tool not just for getting spindle blanks to round but also for doing gentle curves on longer pieces. It's extremely user friendly and with careful use of your forefinger on the front of the rest as a jig can make for pretty accurately finished blanks in terms of uniform diameter.

The skew is a perfectly viable alternative but there is a certain indefinable something I enjoy about the roughing gouge.

If you want to see the master at work with the skew I recommend Richard Raffan's DVD's. There are few that can touch him and there are one or two teasers on YT. The full DVD's are the most useful turning footage (for the skew) I've ever watched and I manage the books and DVD's for our turning club which means I have access to about 40 DVD's by all the professionals.

 

[woodpig]

Bobs right about the roughing gouge being user friendly and it's ages since I bought mine but I don't remember it being particularly expensive.

 

[Honest John]

A roughing gouge is an emensly useful and forgiving tool. It is supremely good at doing exactly what it is designed for"....roughing out. It is also very capable of a good deal of other work, and is capable of very fine finishing of the same quality as the skew. To achieve this the gouge should be used bevel rubbing and on its side facing the direction of movement. This should produce a shearing cut and can be very fine indeed. A good deal of debate can be had on the relative grinding angles of the gouge and I favour quite a fine sharp grind. Other members of my turning club grind a steeper angle and this suits them. I guess the sort of timber you work will influence this. A roughing gouge is rather like a bent skew, and the bending of the cutting edge into a gouge shape seems to take the spitefulness out of the skew!
For small stock, the skew is easy to use for roughing duties. Pen turning springs to mind. Bigger stock is also perfectly possible but requires a more controlled touch, and is not without its humourous moments!

 

[Bodrighy]

The skew is probably the most uded tooli have, saying that I have four, all ifferent sizes and the largest get used for roughing out medium to small spindle work though a roughing gouge, as said, is, or should be a part of a turners basic tool kit for larger stuff. The skew doesn't have to be above centre, but it helps. Think of it as a plane and also be aware that some woods will not like the skew in one direction and love it in other, dependent on the way the grain is going.When I am doing spindle work often I just use a skew for roughing, planing to size, shaping and finishing to a good surface (saves on abrasive) The thing you need to be most careful of is that you keep it sharp, often they are blunt. Get a good edge then hone every so often instead of re-sharpenign.

pete

 

[Lincsflier]

There's also the full Allan Batty video on the tube.
https://youtu.be/KfeLAHQSbqk

 

[Jelly]

This is all helpful stuff, I was practicing more today to see if I can reach my initial goal of turning beaded pads for cabriole leg blanks.

Turns out turning g a 4" by 24" blank is more challenging than a 2" by 8" practice piece, mainly because I let having such a big piece of wood moving round peturb me more than I should and ran the lathe at a slow speed, once I got in the swing and relaxed I increased the speed and it all got a lot smoother and the work improved in quality